Project Kickoff SOP

When to use

At the start of any new project or client engagement, before work begins.

Owner & roles

• Project Manager — owns the kickoff and the plan
• Org Admin — creates the project if PMs can’t
• Team Leads — confirm department capacity

Procedure

• 1. Create the project and assign the project manager.
• 2. Record stakeholders (client, sponsor) as assigned-by for context — they do not need logins.
• 3. Define the goal, scope, and success criteria in the project description or an instruction.
• 4. Break the work into the initial task list, each with a clear description, department, assignees, priority, and ETA.
• 5. Set up recurring tasks for routine/retainer work (status reports, check-ins).
• 6. Confirm capacity with team leads using workload analytics before committing dates.
• 7. Share progress with stakeholders via an exportable report — no client login required.

Cadence & tips

• Revisit scope at each change request
• Keep one source of truth — avoid parallel trackers
• Use departments so workload rolls up by team